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WHEN GOD BECAME A MAN (MYSTERY
OF ALL MYSTERIES) One day a little baby was born in a very rude and obscure place, in a small and humble city. His expected arrival was not announced to the world. His mother was not widely known. Finding no room in the crowded inn the lowly couple retreated to a stable. And, there in the dark hours of the night, while the city was sleeping, the little stranger arrived. No one suspected anything out of the ordinary. But, the birth of that little baby set all the bells of heaven ringing. A bright, new star appeared in the heavens. An angel hastened to a group of shepherds to announce the glad tidings of great joy, while the illuminating light of heaven encircled the astonished shepherds, dispelling the darkness of the night. Suddenly the lone angel was joined by a whole multitude of the heavenly host chanting the joyful refrain: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men." When the angels had gone, the shepherds sped to Bethlehem to see the new-born Babe. From the East came wise men with costly gifts to present to Him. Soon, all Jerusalem was stirred. Even the king was troubled. The birth of the humble child had moved heaven and earth! Who could He be? Why all this commotion about His birth? It was a mystery, a GREAT mystery. But that new-born babe was none other than the Mighty God, the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth, who was born of a virgin, and came into the world in the likeness of a man to dwell among us. "They shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, 'GOD WITH US.’" Matt 1:23. The angel announced unmistakably who He was. Said the angel: "Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the LORD." Luke 2:11. Many times in the Old Testament God is spoken of as the LORD God, the LORD JHVH, the LORD thy God, etc. And, now the angel announces that the Babe of Bethlehem is Christ the "LORD". Since both the Old Testament AND the New Testament emphatically declare that there is only ONE LORD, then it is very evident that the LORD Jesus of the New Testament and the LORD God of the Old Testament is the SAME LORD. The following scriptures taken from the Old AND New Testaments will prove conclusively that the Lord God of the Old Testament "IS" the Lord Jesus Christ of the New Testament ... NOT TWO SEPARATE LORDS: The Lord God created heaven and earth.- Isa. 42:5. The following Scriptures will further prove beyond the shadow of any doubt that the Babe of Bethlehem was the Lord God Almighty: The Child -a Son- shall be called the "Mighty God" and "Everlasting
Father" Isa 9:6. Now that it has been fully established by scripture that Jesus "IS" God, the next step is to examine the "Son-ship" aspect of God. WHEN DID THE SON-SHIP BEGIN? Was Jesus a son in eternity with God before His birth in Bethlehem? If so, when did He become a Son? Was He as old as the Father? Who was his mother then? What became of His body when He was born in Bethlehem? Was He born twice ... once in eternity and AGAIN in Bethlehem? Did He have two fathers and two mothers? No, no! That is not the right understanding of God and the Son. In eternity, God was an invisible spirit without flesh and bones, who ALONE created the heavens and the earth, Isa. 37:16; Isa. 44:24; Job 9:8. He declared, Himself, that there was no one else with Him, and that He created the earth by Himself, Isa. 45:5; Isa. 44:24. There is no Saviour, He said, but Himself, Isa. 43:11. It was He, the ONLY Lord God and ONLY Saviour, who came into the world in the form of man to become man's salvation. The name "JESUS" is the English equivalent of the Hebrew name given to the Messiah. And, it means, "JHVH-Saviour" or "JHVH has become Salvation." That is when the Son-ship began, when God became a man - the Babe of Bethlehem - a Lamb of sacrifice for sin. It was God in the flesh who died for the sins of the world, Acts 20:28. There was no Son before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Although, God -He who BECAME a Son- existed as the invisible Spirit of Deity from Everlasting. JESUS WAS "BOTH" GOD AND MAN Jesus was a man, a perfect man. As a man He slept, He ate, and He grew weary. But all of His mighty works prove that He was MORE than just a man. Who else could raise the dead, walk on water, open blind eyes, multiply bread and fish, or speak the word and calm the wind and waves? Jesus was BOTH God AND man united in ONE image. That is the reason He could say to Philip, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father," John 14:9. And did not He say, I and my Father are ONE?" John 10:30. And did He not also say, "If ye believe not that I am He (speaking of the Father) ye shall die in your sins? John 8:24 & 27. Indeed, it was a marvelous mystery. But, Jesus was the God-man. His birth was NOT after the fashion of ordinary man. He had no earthly father. His Father was the Holy Ghost and His mother was the virgin Mary. Therefore, He was BOTH God AND man. The Spirit begat the flesh! As a man, Jesus ate. As God, He multiplied bread and fish. As a man, He slept in the boat. As God, He arose and calmed the stormy waves. As a man, He prayed at the tomb of Lazarus. As God, He raised Lazarus from the dead. As a man, He died. As God, He raised Himself from the dead. John 2:19. He was BOTH God AND man - Father and Son - Spirit and Flesh ... in ONE IMAGE. God speaks of things that are not yet, as though they are. Therefore, when He said "Let us make man in our image (not images), He was speaking in the presense of angels of the two-fold relationship of Father and Son in ONE Image. We read: "So God (by Himself) created man in HIS OWN IMAGE (not images), Gen. 1:26-27. What, then, is God's Image? Jesus is the IMAGE of the INVISIBLE GOD. Col. 1:15. The children of Israel had never seen their God. He was always invisible to them. But, when Jesus came, the Invisible God was made visible. At the same time God was manifest in flesh on earth, He remained Spirit in heaven. For that reason Jesus could speak of the Father that dwelleth in me," and also speak of the Father "in heaven." RIGHT HAND Jesus at the right hand of God does NOT mean that God and Jesus are two persons sitting side by side on a throne in heaven ... "both of them" sitting there stationary for centuries. That is a ridiculous AND unscriptural idea of God. A preacher once said that Jesus had stood up only one time since He ascended into heaven, and that was when He stood up to welcome Stephen, because Stephen saw Him "standing" at the right hand of God. But, that is NOT the correct meaning of the "right hand". The right hand is a symbolic term meaning a place of "acceptance, power and authority" not a physical location. Jesus said: "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." When God became Incarnate Man on earth He did all of His mighty works through the power and authority of that Man. And now that Jesus has ascended to heaven He has ALL the power in heaven. Matt. 28:18. Therefore, Jesus at the right hand of God, means that Jesus has all the power. It means that Jesus "IS" the power of God. 1 Cor. 1:24. HE IS GOD! It must be remembered that the Lord Jesus Christ is MORE than just a man. He is BOTH God and man. He is God manifest (revealed) in the flesh, I Tim 3:16. The following is a few symbolic uses of "right hand": My "right hand" hath spanned the heavens, Isa 48:13. THE HOLY SPIRIT The Holy Spirit is NOT a third, separate and distinct person from the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit "IS" God. In John 4:24 we read: "God is a SPIRIT." And, God is HOLY. Therefore, God is the HOLY SPIRIT. No further evidence is needed to prove that the Holy Ghost is God than the scriptural fact that the Holy Ghost is the Father of Jesus. Matt. 1:18 & 20. It must be remembered that Jesus was the Incarnation of God ... or God in human form. JESUS IS THE HOLY SPIRIT Jesus called his disciples together one day and told them He was soon going away. But, that, He would send another Comforter, who would abide with them forever. Who, then, is this other Comforter? What is His name? Is He someone else other than Jesus? If the Comforter is someone else, then Jesus is not here. He is not "IN" us. But, Jesus said, "Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world." Jesus did not leave His disciples in the dark. He told them very plainly who the other Comforter is. Said He: "I will not leave you Comfortless, ‘I’ will come to you." John 14:18 What He told them about the "other" Comforter was, He was dwelling "with" them, and would be "IN" them. Jesus was WITH (and comforting) them while in the flesh. He went back to heaven in the flesh, but returned in another (Spirit) form on the day of Pentecost to be "IN" them. So, we may rightfully sing: "Since Jesus came into my heart." Therefore, the name of the Comforter - who is the Holy Ghost - is "Jesus". John 14:26. There is NO other name. THE TRINITY THEORY Through the confusion of the dark ages, and the TRADITIONS of men, the vision of the greatness and the glory and majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ has become dimmed. He who said: "I am the First and the Last" has been relegated to second place. After a raging discussion of centuries concerning the Godhead, a doctrine was finally emerged, known as the doctrine of the Trinity, namely: that God consists of three separate and distinct, co-equal, co-eternal, co-existent, "persons". Thus, making Jesus Christ a "junior partner", instead of Him being LORD OF ALL, as the Bible states. God, no doubt, has winked at the ignorance of the people as they have piously chanted hymns to the "blessed holy trinity - God in three persons". But, now the mists are being cleared away. And, the doctrines, as taught by the Apostles, are again being revealed - that Jesus Christ is God, the Spirit, manifested in the flesh - NOT one of three "persons" in one position, but one person in all 3 positions. The trinity doctrine is man's feeble attempt to solve the great mystery of the Incarnate God. But, in thus disposing of the mystery, they have only added absurdity to mystery. People in Jesus’ day were continually asking: Who art thou? Whom makest thou thyself? What manner of man is this? Whence hath this man this wisdom? Art thou, then, the Son of God? Art thou the king of the Jews? Whence art thou? How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? Who is this that forgiveth sins, also? And, still, today, the world is puzzled. No wonder. He is great and marvelous! The name "Jesus" is above all other names. No tongue of man has ever proclaimed His worth. ANTI-CHRIST The devil has done his best to conceal the identity of Jesus Christ - to hide Him from the people. And, so well will He have succeeded, until, at the end of the age, the entire world will reject Jesus Christ, and will worship the anti-christ as God (all except those whose names are written in the book of life). John warned of this when He said: "Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God; and this is that spirit of anti-christ." I Tim. 3:16 says God was manifest in the flesh. And, I John 4:2 says Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. Harmonizing these two scriptures we find that Jesus Christ was God who came in the flesh. And, to attempt to place Him on a lower place than the Mighty God, who is "LORD OF ALL", is to join ranks with the anti-christ forces. In the Incarnate Christ dwells ALL the fullness of the Godhead "BODILY" ... in human form. Col. 2:9; Acts 2:38; Acts 8:12,17; Acts 10: 44-48; Acts 19:1-6; Col 3:17. (A.T. S.) |